Emily was Baptized Today!

Wow, what a day! While I have no shortage of items in the “Proud of My Kids” category, I believe today was certainly the high mark so far. Several weeks ago Emily matter-of-factly said, “Dad, I think I want to be baptized…” That was such an exciting thing for me to hear, but I kept my excitement in check until I knew for sure that she totally understood what it meant to be baptized. She did! She met with the pastor at church and he agreed she was ready!

This morning in front of family, friends, and the Bethel congregation Emily publicly declared her love for Christ Jesus and her desire to follow Him … and she was baptized. It was such a beautiful experience. My eyes teared up with happiness, and I was overwhelmed with emotion. God is stirring her heart, I expect He will do great things in her life!

I really had a hard time containing my pride, excitement, and love … love both for Emily for coming to this decision (with no prompting from others), and love for Jesus who has so beautifully provided a path for us to approach a Holy God. With the amount of “overwhelmedness” (is that a word?) I experienced today, I’m sure I’ll be a total blubbering emotional idiot for future milestone moments. But for now I’ll just enjoy the afterglow of a very wonderful day experienced with Emily.